Vain
by Wolfbanekapu
Summary: What would happened if Nick gave in to his true Malachi nature?


**Full Summary: What would happen if Nick couldn't control his true Malachi nature? What if his dark side began to overcome the good that his was taught? How would his friends take it all? He was the enemy now...the monster his father is. Everything they did to protect him and keeping him from turning was all for nothing. **

**The more important question is...what will Nick think? What will he think when he finds out how willing even his most closet allies and friends are to kill him? Will it push him further into his evil, or will it give him the sense to fight this monster he's becoming?**

**Note:** _I have never put so many questions together...it looks stupid but oh well. Please enjoy the fic! PS Takes place after Infamous._

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Chronicles of Nick series. **

* * *

**I**

_The world's most glorious feeling filled Nick as he laid there. His eyes were closed and his skin tingled on the surface. He felt like laughing. It was as if he had just been relieved of an awful, torturous pain and he felt a certain exhilaration. No worries clung to him, no more stress, and no more pain to make his life miserable. He wanted to stay this way forever!_

_There was only peace and silence. Nick reveled in the noiselessness, and let himself drift deeper into his numb paradise. It needed to stay like this, it should always be this peaceful and wonderful everywhere. Here, there was nothing to frown about and there was nothing to get frustrated over, there were no responsibilities that caused stress in your life. Nick loved it here. Now he would have to deal with Stone and his goons, or stupid Mr. Richard, or anyone else who hated him._

_His life wasn't complicated anymore._

_"Nick..."_

_Her voice reached out to him and tugged at his mind. His immediate instinct was to pull away and fight it. This was his paradise and he wanted to enjoy it! Angrily, Nick tried to shut Nekoda's presence out so he could revel in his peace alone. "Nick..." He heard Nekoda call out again, sounding choked with tears. That roused him._

Who hurt my girl? _Nick thought with venom. _

_Nick opened his eyes and a horrible stench hit him. The awful smell nearly had him gagging and made his eyes water. He made an attempt to stand, but his limps felt like lead and refused to cooperate. In response, his sleeping limps merely tingled as if complaining about being roused. However when he saw his surroundings, the terror he felt sent a shock of energy through his body and made him sit up. _

_Blood. He laid there in sticky, crimson blood, practically drowning in it. The pool of red rose up to his hips while his was sitting up. That explained the acrid smell that made him want to gag so bad. Nick felt the color drain from his face as his stared around him. He knew there was a body of water called the Red Sea but this...this was...he didn't even know what to call it. All he could feel was pure terror and disgust and he looked at the chaos._

_He felt sick...he actually found this enjoyable! _

_"Nick...Nick..."_

_Nick slowly looked up, knowing he'd regret it if he did. Nekoda. She laid eagle-spread, with tears falling into her hair as she gazed down at Nick from the giant pole that was stabbed through his stomach. "Why?" she whispered._

* * *

Nick jumped when he opened his eyes.

He leaned forward in his chair panting and rubbed his temples. "If I don't end up destroying the world, I'll go insane instead." he muttered and got up from his chair to make his way over to his more comfortable bed.

Nick stretched and flopped down on the mattress. He hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep, all he remember was staring blankly at a wall. A very boring wall too if it made him fall asleep. It was 8:37, that's what his wrist watch displayed. He had been asleep for about three or four hours.

Shuddering he flipped over to rest on his back and stared at the ceiling. The dream still had him feeling disturbed. All that blood and chaos...and the only thing he could think of was the peace. Nick felt revolted with himself, he felt dirty, like the slimy scum everyone always thought he was. It brought the taste of coppery bile into his mouth.

Only monsters got a kick out of destruction and gore like that. More proof that he had the potential to turn psycho. The only reason he wasn't already was because his mother raised him up with love and kindness but from what he understood, that probably wouldn't stop his Malachi nature from corrupting him. Nick had the power to destroy everything he loved...

Groaning, he draped his arm across his face, feeling nauseous again. He wished it were easy to get rid of undesirable memories.

"I was waiting for you to wake up. Bye the way you have a little drool right there."

Nick bolted straight up and looked to see Caleb sitting there by his doorway. "How'd you get in?" he sputtered.

Caleb shrugged and got to his feet. "Your mom let me in and you still have drool on your chin." he looked thoughtful then added. "That might make a good poem."

Nick frowned and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "Yes, you're a true poet. How long have you been waiting?" he grimaced with distaste.

"I got here about 6:30. She told me that you might be a asleep but I said I was fine with waiting."

"Dude, you could've woken me up."

"I have only two reasons why I didn't" Caleb replied.

Nick frowned when he saw his serious expression. He hoped his body wasn't doing anything crazy when he was asleep. The last thing he needed was sleep killing people. "Why not? If it were me, I would've have gotten pretty impatient."

"It looked like you were having convulsions in your sleep," Caleb said as he studied Nick closely. Nick could see the wariness in his body language, "and your snoring made me want to keep my distance."

Nick glared. "I do not snore." he retorted.

"That's what you think." Caleb smirked.

"Forget that for a moment, kay. Now you said I was...convulsing?" Nick asked nervously.

Caleb bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. The nervous look he was giving him did not help Nick with the bad nerves he was already experiencing. His heart was still racing as he recalled that disgusting nightmare. Caleb must've seen something in his facial expression. "Everything been alright?" he asked as he scanned the room, looking for some evidence of anything dangerous.

Nick wasn't sure if he wanted to tell him about the dream. At least not now. His mind was still reeling after all the crap he's been through, he didn't need the stress. If he told Caleb about it, the guy would probably put him on a toddler leash to keep in from getting into trouble.

"Nick?"

Nick looked up at Caleb. "Anything happen?" he asked him.

"No." Nick told him.

"Why do I feel like I shouldn't believe that?" Caleb asked with an unsatisfied expression.

"Cause I'm a troubled teen who likes to hold things in until I have a mental breakdown." Nick replied with a smirk. Caleb rolled his eyes in response. The poor guy was probably dying on the inside because of his smart-mouth antics.

"You sound like you want to add something to that." Caleb replied drily. Nick smirked but before he could open his mouth, Caleb interrupted him. "Well don't, you're trying to avoid something, aren't you" he asked coolly.

_He's no fun today. _Nick thought.

"It's nothing." Nick said with a shrug. He regretted it when he saw the glare Caleb gave him. The jerk was making it hard to change the subject or to lie to. Caleb had been watching him so he knew something was up. Nick felt a little spark of annoyance. Ever since that little incident- well incidents, Caleb had slowly become more...clingy.

No clingy wasn't the word he wanted to use. Protective? Worried? Nope and nope. Caleb had become more...cautious and tense. He'd been hanging around him more, every week, everyday, every hour. The only thing stopping him from hanging around Nick even more was the fact that he didn't want people to think he was coming on to him. Bubba had already dubbed Caleb as Nick's stalker a couple days ago.

Caleb didn't really deny it either, he just snorted and walked off. For some reason, his reaction had made Nick a bit paranoid when he took a shower that night. Shaking that that thought from his head, Nick brought himself back to reality. He still found himself under Caleb's hard, scrutinizing gaze. Nick felt like a puppy being punished for chewing up an expensive set of furniture. He could practically see Caleb with a rolled up newspaper in his hand.

Nick wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Caleb anything though. He didn't want to see his reaction, especially if he told him what _he _had been doing. There was no way to explain the dream with out including the fact about the poor euphoria Nick had felt when he was surrounded by all that pain. To be honest now, Nick wasn't sure if he felt entirely disgusted by the gory scenes. Now that he thought about it, Nick would say that it was almost pleasant.

_You're so gross. _Nick thought to himself. Though he couldn't help but feel some amusement. The more he thought about it, the less disturbed he felt. He could get rid of everyone whoever tried walking all over him, finally make them pay. They would regret messing with him, they'd learn to respect him and actually treat him like they should've been treating him. No one would ever try calling him a scum again, they would never call him a delinquent or say he was going to become a convict...like his father. He'd kill Adarian

He'd kill anyone- no he'd kill everyone who ever thought little of him. Nick would show them all, he'd bathe in their blood and torture them! He'd laugh at their screams of pain as he slaughtered them all! No one would ever think of him as a worthless nothing ever again.

Suddenly, Nick felt something slam into his chest and then he found himself pinned against the wall. He chocked and blinked back the stars that were dancing across his vision. When his impaired sight cleared, he was looking into the narrowed yellow eyes of Caleb. His elbow was driven into his chest. "Gotten a hold of yourself now, boy?" he asked him in a smooth and deadly tone. Nick nodded rigidly and Caleb let him go.

"What's going on up here?" Cherise Gautier asked as she walked into Nick's room with her hands her hips. She looked from Caleb to Nick lying hunched over on the floor then back to Caleb again. The daeva had never seen so much scorn in a woman. He took a step back, fearing his life in that moment.

"I'm only giving you a couple of seconds to explain, Caleb." the woman said, lightening practically crackled around her.

Nick spoke up before Caleb could. "No it's okay, Ma. Cay and I were only messing around, you know how us guys can be." he grinned sheepishly.

His mother frowned, for a moment he thought she wouldn't believe her. Nick would have used silkspeak on her but he didn't want Caleb to notice. "If you boys are going to get rough then take it outside. I don't want you messing anything up in my nice house." she told both of them.

"Yes ma'am." Caleb and Nick said in unison.

Nick waited until his mother left the room until he spoke. "I think you dented a lung." he said as he stood up. Absently, he rubbed the sore spot on his chest, positive that a bruise was already forming. His head ached dully from when it hit the wall.

Caleb snorted. "I had to stop you. Nick, you were getting a little demonic on me." he said.

"You could have been gentler." Nick complained.

"Nah. I had to get out some of my pint up aggression for you, out. So is it still nothing?" Caleb asked looking smug. He went over and shut the door then leaned up against it as if he thought Nick would make a break for it.

Nick gave a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "So how long are you going to hold this out?" he asked.

Caleb checked his watch. "I'm sure your mom wouldn't mind if I slept over for a couple of nights. She might like the extra help around the house and making sure you stay out of trouble."

"That determined to get it out of me, huh?" Nick replied.

Caleb sighed and drummed his fingers against the door. He then gave Nick a very grave stare. "Nick, we're treading on some thin ice my friend. Nekoda told me about what happened and that's got me...worried. I need to keep a closer eye on you...we both do." he tried to reason.

Nick wasn't sure what to think of Kody. He recalled what Grim had told him. That his girlfriend was the one trying to kill him. "Are you even paying attention?" Caleb sounded impatient.

"I'm listening." Nick muttered.

"Then tell me what I need to know."

Nick glared at him. Why did Caleb have to know about anything unusual that happened to him? He was worse than an overprotective, over aggressive guard dog. Nick felt a spark of anger jump to life in him. "Sorry, try again later." he said in a smooth, stubborn tone. When Caleb narrowed his eyes, he tried his best not to flinch. That look said that Caleb was willing to try anything to get Nick to cooperate.

Caleb just smirked and shrugged. "Then we're going to be roommates for awhile, at least until you give me an answer. This way I'll be able to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't go er..."

"Crazy, psycho Malachi?" Nick offered.


End file.
